The Second Phase finally started after the data was analysed and the puppet was modified sevearl times.

Testing the prototype.

Two more weeks passed.

The puppet, a compact construct designed specifically for controlled vibration output, was placed against a prepared rock sample. Arrays were activated. Energy flowed.

The first attempt failed.

The second shattered everything.

The third produced no result.

The fourth destabilized the structure.

Dozens of attempts followed.

Each one slightly different.

Each one bringing them closer.

And then…

It happened.

A low, controlled hum filled the chamber as the puppet activated once more. The vibration it produced was subtle, almost imperceptible to the ear, but perfectly tuned.

The rock trembled.

Not violently.

But precisely.

A faint crack formed.

Not in the quartz.

But around it.

The surrounding material fractured cleanly.

Separated.

And then…

A single piece of Violet Spirit Quartz detached.

Intact.

Whole.

Silence followed.

Han Yu stared at it.

A fragment no larger than a fingernail.

Yet perfect.

For the first time, a successful extraction.

Jurhanzi's face lit up with undisguised joy.

"Success," he said.

His voice carried satisfaction.

Validation.

Proof.

They were on the right path.

Even if hundreds of failures had preceded it, this single success outweighed them all.

Han Yu reached out and picked up the small crystal.

The moment it touched his hand…

Something changed.

SHUA

A faint sensation.

Subtle.

Yet unmistakable.

A hum.

Not from the crystal.

But from within him.

Han Yu's eyes narrowed slightly.

His focus shifted inward.

The source was clear.

His soul space.

More specifically…

The Stelae at the center of his Eight Emotions Lotus Soul Core.

The resonance was faint, but it was there.

Reacting.

To the Violet Spirit Quartz.

Han Yu's grip on the crystal tightened slightly.

'This…'

This was unexpected.

But not something he could ignore.

Fortunately, Jurhanzi was already lost in his own thoughts, his mind racing with possibilities for refinement and improvement. The success had opened new avenues, and the elder was eager to pursue them.

"You may go," Jurhanzi said absentmindedly. "I need to refine this further."

Han Yu did not hesitate.

He inclined his head and left.

Instead of returning to his quarters, he went directly to a private research chamber assigned to him. The moment he entered, he activated the arrays.

Barriers rose.

Isolation formed.

The outside world was sealed away.

Only then did Han Yu sit down.

The Violet Spirit Quartz still in his hand.

His eyes closed.

And his consciousness descended.

Into his soul space.

Han Yu stood within his soul space, unmoving.

The familiar expanse stretched before him, vast and tranquil, yet at this moment it felt anything but still. At the very center, the Eight Emotions Lotus Soul Core rotated slowly, its layered petals radiating faint hues that shifted with subtle emotional resonance. And embedded within its heart, as always, stood the Stelae.

But something was different.

Very different.

Han Yu's gaze fixed upon it.

The Dao Script runes etched across the surface of the Stelae were in motion.

They were always in motion.

That was their nature.

Ever shifting.

Ever changing.

Revealing fragments of insight, then obscuring them again, as if testing the observer's comprehension and patience.

But never…

Never had they moved like this.

The runes flickered rapidly, rearranging themselves at a pace far beyond what Han Yu had ever witnessed before. Lines of script dissolved and reformed in the span of a breath. Symbols that would normally linger long enough to be studied now vanished almost the instant they appeared.

It was chaotic.

Almost unstable.

Han Yu's eyes narrowed slightly.

'This… is not normal.'

He did not act immediately.

Instead, he observed.

Carefully.

Silently.

His thoughts remained steady, even as the storm of shifting runes continued before him.

Then, slowly, a realization formed.

The timing.

The trigger.

The only thing that had changed.

The Violet Spirit Quartz.

Han Yu's mind sharpened.

'Is it reacting… to that?'

He could not be certain.

But the correlation was too strong to ignore.

Without hesitation, Han Yu stepped forward, stopping just a short distance from the Stelae. He did not touch it. He had learned long ago that interference often disrupted the flow of information. Instead, he focused.

Completely.

His consciousness sharpened, narrowing to a single point of awareness.

The runes slowed.

Not physically.

But in his perception.

What had once been a chaotic blur began to take form.

Patterns emerged.

Fragments aligned.

At first, it was nothing more than scattered symbols, incomplete and disconnected. But Han Yu did not rush. He followed each fragment as it appeared, committing it to memory, tracing its transformation as it merged with others.

Gradually, the fragments began to connect.

A single rune lingered longer than the others.

Then another joined it.

A third.

Together, they formed something recognizable.

A word.

Han Yu's pupils contracted slightly.

He did not react outwardly.

But his focus deepened.

More runes followed.

Words became phrases.

Phrases became sentences.

The shifting chaos of the Stelae was no longer random.

It was assembling something.

Revealing something.

Han Yu stood there for hours.

Time within the soul space was hard to perceive, but even so, the passage was not insignificant. His consciousness remained anchored, unwavering, as he observed the formation of the text.

Sentence by sentence.

Line by line.

The structure grew clearer.

More complete.

What had once been fragments now formed coherent blocks of meaning.

Paragraphs.

Sections.

A full body of information.

And finally…

The runes slowed.

Then stopped.

For the first time since he had entered, the Stelae became still.

Completely still.

Han Yu's gaze lifted slightly.

At the top of the now stabilized script, a title had formed.

Clear.

Unmistakable.

'Mind Modifying Doll Seal.'

Han Yu's heart trembled and within the depths of his consciousness, something shifted.

'This is… Impossible.'

Or at least, it should have been.

The Mind Modifying Doll Seal.

A technique he had long known of.

A technique he had anticipated learning in the distant future, after years of advancement, refinement, and qualification.

It was not something a disciple like him should have access to now.

And yet…

There it was.

Written plainly upon the Stelae.

Revealed without condition.